Kent Wang

It would be very cool to go to an illegal underground restaurant. Sort of the same appeal as speakeasies or pirate radio. If you get it off the ground, I'd certainly come. I'm usually in NYC at least once a year.

I like to put the sauce into my coleslaw and potato salad -- but only on my second or third trip to that restaurant. First trip is all about the meat. Salt Lick is also the best restaurant at the AUS airport. I never mind getting to the airport early.

Mark, I will be taking you up on your offer soon. Sounds like a good opportunity to check out a few Hill Country wineries at the same time, too. Last time I went through Marble Falls, I was on my way to Fall Creek Winery. I also read the glowing review of your restaurant in the Austin Chronicle. I'll be in touch.

So how do you guys enjoy your honey? Do you bake with it, eat it straight, drizzle it on toast or put it in your tea?

Went to County Line today. A friend of mine's car broke down there, so it was a matter of convenience. Had the pork ribs, brisket and sausage platter. All the meat was smothered in a rather ketchup-y sauce. I don't want sauce on my BBQ, but if I had to have it I much pretty John Mueller's or Salt Lick's sauce. Pork ribs were nice and tender. Brisket was tender, but was low on fat and smoke flavor. I'm pretty sure they use gas. Sausage was decent. Conclusion: If I wanted sauce, I'd rather eat at Salt Lick.

AUS (Austin, TX) has Salt Lick, a pretty good BBQ outlet, for an airport at least. They cook everything offsite at their main restaurant and then bring in the meat by van. White Plains, NY has a decent bar with raw oysters and steamed clams. Chicago O'Hare has a Wolfgang Puck Express. I had a steak smothered in butter that I had to eat with a plastic knife since it was behind the security checkpoint.

November 25, 2005 Austin Chronicle Harvesting History. An appreciation of the pecan. by MM Pack History of pecan cultivation in Texas, an Austin-area pecan farm, pecan trees planted in city parks. "The pecan, the Texas state tree since 1919, has been an integral part of the state's culinary and economic heritage for millennia. You can buy freshly harvested local nuts, you can plant trees in the yard to gather your own, or you can simply head to the parks and alleys of Austin to pick up the pecans just lying there waiting for you." Austin Chronicle Nuts to You by Staff Favorite pecan recipes, including Sweet Pecan Tea, Caramelized Sweet-Spicy Pecans, Pecan Tamales, Pecan Pie, Pecan Pralines. Austin American-Statesman Romeo's by Dale Rice Review of revamped Barton Springs Italian restaurant Romeo's. "One of the most important criteria for categorizing eateries is a restaurant's aspiration, what it is trying to be. And, after a meal's worth of observation, Romeo's appeared to be a restaurant that was aiming to be more than a casual eatery." This thread is for food media DIGEST entries. If you want to discuss one of these news items, please start a separate discussion thread.

Bart Simpson is a fan of Princess Cake.

A few years ago, I had skate as part of the tasting menu at The Driskill, here in Austin. I have developed a lust for it ever since. I have seen it offered for sale at various fishmongers, but before tackling cooking it I think I would like try it out at a few more restaurants. What restaurants in Texas feature a well-prempared skate dish?

I predict this thread will grow during this period of the year.

Yes, I should have quoted that too. Like I said above, it really doesn't matter to me how a retailer gets their fish; even if they have a device that teleports in fish straight off the boat, if it doesn't taste good then it doesn't matter. I went to CM South on Saturday. The only salmon they could sell me that was sashimi-grade was some wild Coho. It doesn't taste too fresh, but what was worse is that it was rather mushy. I described my experience in another thread. Yesterday, I went to CM North and when I asked for sashimi-grade salmon they sold me a 6 oz pre-packed branded farmed Atlantic. I thawed it out and tried a piece of it raw. I had to spit it out. This was really one of the worst pieces of salmon that I have purchased in the last few years, reminds me of the stuff my cheapo dad would by at Sam's Club. Very dull color, zero marbling. So, LonghornGal, how does one purchase good sashimi-grade salmon from CM? Next time, should I try to buy wild Pacific, make sure that it's not too mushy, freeze it for 72 hours and then thaw? Judging from the advice that you and others have given out in this and the other thread, that seems to be the best course of action. Though I find it disappointing that the staff at both CMs failed to offer this advice. I did buy a half-pound of yellowtail from CM North that I have frozen. I will thaw it out in the next few days and see how it tastes.

My cousin in Christchurch, New Zealand just sent me a jar of Airborne brand Rata and a jar of The Honey Hive brand Rata/Wild Fuschia blend. Both are delicious, the fuschia blend being quite floral. I have so much honey now, and I don't know what to use them in!

I've read that with certain fruits, e.g. mango, there is an actual chemical reaction that takes place and it takes a few seconds to happen. So you can test if there's a reaction happening if a bite a few seconds after sprinkling tastes different than immediately after.

A few friends and I are going on a five-day drinking binge.

Do you then toss the whole core in a blender? Why the freezer instead of the fridge? I think Roy's (Roy Yamaguchi's chain) has a drink like that.

So you guys that don't brine, you can eat a whole pineapple by yourself without leaving your tongue feeling like it's been blistered? I envy your pineapples! I've never heard of that procedure for eggplant, but maybe the mechanisms are different. I'm guessing that the pineapple enzyme cells are destroyed by osmosis, but somehow this does not affect many of the other cells in the fruit.

Yes. You can rinse it, I don't. I just strain it. The salt seems to leave no discernable effect on the taste.

If you soak freshly-sliced pineapple in a brine for about 15 minutes, the nasty mouth-irritating enzymes will be destroyed and the pineapple becomes much easier to eat. I learned of the practice from my mother, but most westerners that I've spoken to do not seem to be aware of this technique. I guess most westerners do not eat fresh pineapple on a regular basis either. I eat two or three a month.

I just realized that this was quite the "sausage fest". This experience will be useful for retelling at parties. "You think this is a sausage fest? I've been to a real sausage fest, and this is no sausage fest!"

In the state of Texas, fish has to be frozen for 72 hours before being sold as sashimi-grade. I've always liked King and Sockeye for cooking. Maybe next time I will buy some and freeze it myself.

The WF flagship in Austin is particularly grating with their slick marketing posters with slogans like "Love Where You Shop", "Whole Foods, Whole Earth", etc. They even sell neo-hippie clothing -- made of organic cotton of course! If their marketing shtick grates on you, you will be seeing red once you step into their flagship store.

They market their bison products at http://thunderheartbison.com/

I have heard from a few retailers in the US that farmed salmon is preferred for sashimi, because of health reasons. Every restaurant that I've been to and have asked say their salmon is farmed Atlantic. Today, I purchased some wild Coho and ate about half a pound of it raw. It did not taste very fresh, and the texture was rather mealy, instead of flaky. I've heard that wild Pacific salmon is caught near the inlets where the salmon begins to fall apart as it starts its swim upriver, so is the mealiness due to that? Are there indeed health concerns about eating wild salmon raw?

Could you explain the reasoning behind these taboos? We have the latter one in China, and the reasoning is that chopsticks standing in rice is only used for sacrifices to the dead. So leaving your chopsticks in your own rice, or worse, in someone else's rice bowl, implies that they will die.

Intriguing, no such taboo exists in China. So does every member of the household have different-looking chopsticks so that they don't get mixed up?